Vijai Elect lines up Rs 300cr capex

To make gas insulator sub-stations with Russian technology

Hyderabad-based Vijai Electricals Limited, the largest power transformer company in the country, is lining up Rs 300-crore capital investment this year for new manufacturing facilities to produce gas insulator sub-stations and other high-end products besides expansion of the existing capacities.

Under the current plans, the company is also setting up two plants in North India "� in Haridwar and Roorkee "� with an investment of Rs 55 crore for manufacture of power transformers and transmission conductors respectively.

"Our investment strategy is to become the country's number one transmission and distribution (T&D) company in the next 3-4 years," Dasari Jai Ramesh, chairman and managing director of the company, told Business Standard.

Vijai Electricals, with state-owned power utilities across the country forming its major clientele base, posted about 60 per cent growth in business turnover last year to touch the Rs 1,100-crore figure.

Renewed focus on rural electrification at state and national level is providing enormous growth opportunities to electrical manufacturers in the country, according to Ramesh.

He said that the company was gearing up to tap the new opportunities in these areas while continuing its focus on exports and high-end business.

With the current level of year-on-year growth, it was targeting to touch Rs 5,000 crore turnover in the next 3-4 years. During the current financial year, the company was expected to achieve around Rs 1,600 crore turnover, he added.

Among the new product lines, the company is setting up facilities at the existing plant near Hyderabad to manufacture gas insulator sub-stations with Russian technology.

"Gas insulator sub-station is a fairly new concept. They are ideal to install in cities as their compact structure requires very little space as compared to the conventional sub-stations," he said.

The company has also stood first in launching the energy efficient amorphous power transformers in the country.

Though amorphous transformers currently account for 15-20 per cent of its total transformer sales due to slightly higher price compared to conventional transformers, Ramesh expects that orders for the new technology transformers would grow in future with the awareness on the energy efficiency properties of amorphous transformers spreading among the power utilities.

According to him, the loss of energy can be reduced by one-fourth with these transformers.

Currently, the company has a capacity to manufacture 2.5 lakh single-phase transformers and 60,000 three-phase transformers at the existing plant here.

Besides gas insulator sub-stations, the company is also getting into manufacture of switch gears and circuit breakers of up to 400 kv level and also into manufacturing of large power transformers of up to 400 kv level with Japanese technology.

Apart from the manufacturing activity, the company is executing large projects like laying transmission and distribution lines and erecting sub-stations.

According to the company chairman, Vijai Electricals is also associated with the development of 765 kv lines, which is a new initiative undertaken by the state-owned power utilities. Over 80 per cent of the current year's investments on plant and machinery would be going into these new plans, he said.

Ramesh, who recently attended the Hannover fair in Germany, feels that the world is recognising the quality of Indian electrical equipment.

"I can say that we are a shade ahead of manufacturers from China and other countries when it comes to quality as these products largely require human skill," Ramesh said, adding that the company's exports would also go up in line with its growth plans. Vijai Electricals, which is into overseas export of power transformers for the last 17 years, achieved Rs 200 crore turnover on the export front last year, he said.